Washing machine appliances generally include a tub for containing water or wash fluid, e.g., water and detergent, bleach, and/or other wash additives. A basket is rotatably mounted within the tub and defines a wash chamber for receipt of articles for washing. During normal operation of such washing machine appliances, the wash fluid is directed into the tub and onto articles within the wash chamber of the basket. The basket or an agitation element can rotate at various speeds to agitate articles within the wash chamber, to wring wash fluid from articles within the wash chamber, etc.
During operation of certain washing machine appliances, a volume of wash fluid is directed into the tub in order to wash and/or rinse articles within the wash chamber. However, in certain situations, a user may wish to pretreat an article of clothing, e.g., by spot treating a specific region on the article with wash additive and/or rubbing or agitating the clothing against a cleaning implement or tool.
However, conventional washing machine appliances do not include integral features for providing a small, localized quantity of detergent to an article of clothing for pretreating purposes. Although a user could pour detergent directly from the bottle or use a stand-alone applicator to pretreat an article of clothing, such options are typically messier and require additional tools which are not often conveniently stored or accessible.
Accordingly, a washing machine appliance that provides a quick and easy feature for performing a pretreating operation is desirable. In particular, a pretreating assembly that is integral to a washing machine appliance and enables effective localized pretreating of an article of clothing would be particularly beneficial.